A Midwestern RIA is teaming up, expanding the distribution scope of his subadvised, tactical mutual fund family. This year, watch for him to expand his team, his fund lineup, and his marketing.

Drew Horter, founder and PM at Tactical Fund Advisors, confirms that he plans to expand his three-person team soon. His hiring plans come as the Cincinnati-based fund firm's team is starting to make a distribution push outside of Horter's own clients at sister RIA Horter Investment Management, in advance of the June 2021 two-year anniversary of the first three TFA funds.

"We're looking to possibly add a business development executive and a lead project manager in the next three months or so," Horter tells MFWire.

Horter is also planning an advertising push for the TFA Funds, pitching them as "homegrown mutual funds" in their metro area.

"We're actually starting to campaign here probably in the next six months, here in Cincinnati," Horter says.

TFA currently offers three multi-manager funds (which will hit their two-year track records in June) and two single-manager funds (which will hit their one-year track records next month). Together, the funds currently hold about $225 million in AUM. Watch for the Tactical Fund Advisors team to launch a sixth fund this summer.

"The way we see our future, we want to be the tactical fund family that everybody goes to," Horter says.

Horter launched his eponymous wealth management firm, Horter IM, in 1991. He explains that his interest in tactical strategies arose after the dual 2000s hit of the tech bubble bursting and then the financial crisis. He started off using SMAs, individual funds, and ETFs before launching Tactical Fund Advisors to offer his clients tactical strategies in an effort to capture upside while avoiding "huge drawdowns."

"I just didn't like the devastation," Horter says. "I've been on this journey and this mission."

Horter and his team interviewed more than 200 managers in the tactical space, he says, before launching their three multi-manager funds (with five subadvisors each) in June 2019 and then two single manager funds (with a single subadvisor each) in May 2020. He describes tactical investing as having evolved to "tactical 2.0."

"We want to be able to tell our story of agility and risk reduction," Horter says. "The markets are moving so fast ... You don't have to use necessarily the modern portfolio theory doctrine of buy and hold. You need some risk mitigation!"

"You need to more define what your risk tolerance is," Horter adds. "This is as much about education for RIAs, broker-dealers, and retail investors."

Now Horter is looking to bring the TFA Funds to independent broker-dealers, RIAs, and TAMPs. To that end, they've partnered up with a TPM, FLX Distribution, and with Riskalyze.

"We're on their partner store," Horter says.

That fits in with how Horter sees the TFA Funds being used with individual investors, namely by FAs looking to add in enough tactical allocations to hit the investor's "target risk score." 

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